Be a Peanut Butter Friend: Stick Together with Those You Love!

Hi!

      Still in my funny cone hat, I've been trying to do what Allison told me and relax. She says if I run around too much I might "bust" my stitches and it would hurt. But it's so hard to stay still with so much energy! Arooooo!

     See, this is my Aww-can't-we-play-chase? face.

     Allison lets me play fetch, but doesn't throw Clifford very far. That way I don't have to work as hard. She makes up for no chase games with extra books though! I think I would've started to go crazy if my humans had not been so nice to me! (Things get ruff without friends!) That's what friends are for; they take care of you and cheer you up when you're sad. Friends stick together like peanut butter to the roof of my mouth! Just like the friends in the book I read today...

Mini Grey's picture book Three By the Sea is an unusual story about three unlikely friends. Cat, Dog, and Mouse live happily together in a little house on the beach - until a travelling sales-fox comes to visit and stirs up trouble. (The fur on my back bristled when Allison read aloud the part when the Fox swaggers in with his pin-striped suit and trouble-making questions.) Suddenly Dog feels like Cat is getting lazy, Cat feels like Mouse's cooking is boring, and Mouse feels like Dog is a terrible gardener! The three friends argue, and a tearful Mouse leaves home - only to be swept up by a big wave. Human-pups will like this story's exciting climax as Dog, Cat, and Mouse all pull together to save Mouse and their friendship. As for the ending? It shows the power of friendship renewed, the importance of talking to your friends, and why sometimes you have to compromise when you love someone. Compromise means everyone works together toward the best solution for everyone - even if one pup needs to give a little bit up! I give this book one paw up, especially liking the illustrations that at times (so Allison says) seem like a "scrapbook style." Best for human-pups in grades K-3. Arooooo!  

Now I'm sleepy. All this rain and reading sure makes a dog want a snuggly snooze! Until next time, then!

Your friend (still stuck in a cone),

Sam I Am

Sandy Runs and Bubbly Baths: A Pup Goes Beach-Wild and Then Gets Groomed

Hi!

     Aroooooo! What busy couple of days! Tomorrow is my half-birthday (Allison says my turning six months old is a big deal), and my humans and I have been celebrating early. On Thursday, I had my very first beach day. We travelled what seemed like a lonnnnng way on a rumbly boat called a "ferry." There were lots of human-pups aboard, plenty of fun salty smells, and enough wind to blow my hair into my eyes and fluff my bum up. I was a little unsure at first - Allison had to carry me up the boat's steps - but I soon began to like the ferry's growly rockings and explored a bit. 

  A windblown little me peeks over a pile of ferry rope. Ruff!

      A few very loud HOOONNNNKS later, my humans and I stepped onto Block Island. It's a good place for pups and human-pups to visit! Unlike Rhode Island, which is something called a state and isn't a real island, Block Island is a place completely surrounded by The Ocean. So you can imagine my excitement at all the new smells and sights! Our first stop was a farm with strange animals walking around. I'm always ready to make new friends, so I padded over to a family of puffy-looking creatures with long necks. I though they were llamas, but Allison told me they were "alpacas" - like llamas only fluffier.

They mostly just looked at me. Silly alpacas. I guess their funny haircuts make them shy.

     I had the most fun giving the ducks a chase and licking hellos to the tiniest human-pups visiting the farm. Then a rude, fast-moving emu made me jump back in surprise, and I was ready to move on to explore different places on the island. Next stop: a picnic lunch in front of the Island Free Library. Adventurers have to eat  A LOT to explore. Woof!

     After a long, hot walk, we finally got to the beach! Sand and rocks and damp scraps of plants called "seaweed." Digging and climbing and waking up humans that were foolishly sleeping instead of playing. Best of all, Allison and Rachel let me off my leash so I could run around like a merry wolf dog! The two of them climbed some tall rocks to get to a mud pit; I led the way, bounding up and loving how fast my four legs could take me.

We all got really muddy from our climb.

Sandy and muddy and salty? Who cares? We had so much fun!!

Loving the sand.

Run run run! See that guy on the blanket? I was happy to wake him up.

     My first beach day was a wonderful time, and I didn't want leave! Only when Allison reminded me that we had to go have supper did I happily trot away from the sand. And guess what I had for supper? A taste of "clam cakes" and "oyster crackers"! Yummmmm!

     Here's a book about another pup who has fun on the beach and gets dirty doing it (remember Harry the dirty dog?):

Harry the dirty dog returns in this beach book. Unhappy about the heat, Harry pads off down the beach to look for some shade. Unfortunately, when Harry gets soaked by an ocean wave full of seaweed, he walks back down the beach looking like a sea monster! Cool but wet, Harry causes everyone on the beach to panic. Human-pups will giggle at the humans' silly fears; the illustrations show beach-goers running away from a happy green scraggly Harry! Knowing how fun it is to get muddy at the beach, I give this book two paws up. Human-pups will also like the ending - Harry finally gets a cool spot under his family's beach umbrella! It just goes to show that you need to pay attention to others' needs (And keep on the lookout for sea monsters! Ruff!). Best for human-pups PreK-3. Read it on your next seaside adventure! 

     Friday brought a whole new kind of adventure. Allison and Rachel brought me to get my first haircut! Wouldn't you know it, a haircut is when two very nice ladies cut your fur short after giving you a sweet-smelling bath...ugh! The humans at Canine Corner were nice; they played with me in between cutting my hair, but I was there for five hours. I was a little embarrassed when I got home (though my humans assured me I look very handsome), so Allison decided to read me a comical book about a king who takes one of the longest baths ever!

    Personally I don't like baths that much, but the king in Audrey and Don Wood's King Bidgood's in the Bathtub loves them! He loves them so much he refuses to get out of the bathtub - even to eat! How strange! Aroo!

My favorite part. I wouldn't mind baths if I had all that food in the tub!

Anyway, the rest of the humans in King Bidgood's kingdom try their hardest to get him out of the tub. But instead, each of them ends up in the tub with him! Two paws up for this tale. A simple story, the illustrations are some of the best Allison and I have seen (no wonder it was a Caldecott Honor book). I won't give away the ending, but let's just say that a little human-pup is the only one who finally gets everyone out of the bath (with an obvious solution). This one is best for bath-lovers and human-pups K-3.

     As for yesterday and today, my friend Lizzie is over. She'll be staying with my humans and me while her family goes to somewhere called "Oregon." She doesn't seem to want to play as much as I want to, but it's okay. I've got a whole bag of library books to read with Allison! Now I'm off for a nap before lunch. Arf!

                                                                        Yours in beach days and silly baths,

                                                                          Sam I Am

Salty Dog: Sam I Am Sees the Shining Sea

Hi!

     Today was a slow, lazy day. I did get to see Jacob for a bit this morning - and Jesse! You see, my humans and I missed him yesterday. He couldn't come over to play because he had to go get his human-pup shots. Arrooo! Not very fun! I was kind of worried about him (and I missed the little man), so I was glad to go say hi. We bounded around his yard for awhile, Jacob showed us his new swing set, and then Allison and Suz finally got to give him his birthday present. Jacob-baby's birthday was July 2, and now he's three years old. I hope that means he'll want to play three times as much! Ruff!

     Yesterday was my own almost-half birthday. I am now officially five months old! Allison says that I'm still a baby, her baby puppy, but I felt very excited anyways. To celebrate, my humans took me to a place called Jamestown...and I saw The Ocean. All of a sudden we pull up to this tall tower with a light on top. The light shone through the fog and onto a HUGE bunch of water. And the smells, oh the smells! Salty, misty, scratched-rock smells! Allison let me tug her all over these giagantic rocks, chasing after white, shrill birds Allison calls "gulls" or "sea chickens" and peering into dark and foamy water. I LOVED it!

Allison and I at Beavertail in Jamestown, RI.

A Wauzer enchanted by ocean waters! I love exploring!

Adventures on the rocks can get ruff. I had to stop to pant.

     Anyway, with my adventures through the fog and over ocean-wet rocks fresh in my puppy memory, Allison and I decided to read a book about another person's seaside adventure. This one also involves very little human-pup in honor of Jacob's birthday...

One of Suz's favorite books, Baby Boat by Betty Waterton, illustrated by Joanne Fitzgerald, tells the story of one woman's discovery by the sea. Sitting on the steps of the lighthouse where she lives, Mrs. Figg moans that she misses her babies (her human-pups are all grown up). So when she goes down to the shore and finds a boat full of human-pups, she happily spends the day taking care of them - with often comical results! You never know what you might find near the ocean, and Mrs. Figg finds both adventure and chaos! Finally the grown-up humans come to retrieve their pups and all ends well. Even Mrs. Figg smiles as they depart, sure of a friendship that will last. Best for little human pups up to kindergarten or second grade age, I give this book two paws up. The story is very special, and the gentle-colored illustrations (the human-pups going wild in the lighthouse's control room is my favorite) cleverly highlight the babies' mischief! It just goes to show that life is full of surprises, and that sometimes our wishes come true in funny ways! Woof!

  I'm off to dream of the sea (Allison promised me we would have more ocean adventures soon!) and of meeting more friends of the little human-pup sort. Good-night! Arooo!

With Oceans of Excitement,

Sam I Am